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Cocktails and Recipes

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Each Tequila Review contains a rating or score out of 100, and these scores can be interpreted using the following scale:

0-25 A spirit with a rating this low would actually kill you.
26-49 Depending upon your fortitude you might actually survive this.
50 -59 You are safe to drink this…but you shouldn’t.
60-69 Substandard swill which you may offer to people you do not want to see again.
70-74 Now we have a fair mixing spirit. Accept this but make sure it is mixed into a cocktail.
75-79 You may begin to serve this to friends, again probably still cocktail territory.
80-84 We begin to enjoy this spirit neat or on the rocks. (I will still primarily mix cocktails)
85-89 Excellent for sipping or for mixing!
90-94 Definitely a primary sipping spirit, in fact you may want to hoard this for yourself.
95-97.5 The Cream of the Crop
98+ I haven’t met this bottle yet…but I want to.

Very loosely we may put my scores into terms that you may be familiar with on a Gold, Silver, and Bronze medal scale as follows:

A note about Tequila

Tequila is not a drink distilled from cactus juice. It is an Agave based spirit distilled from the Blue Agave plant in the Tequila Region of the state of Jalisco in Mexico. If the product is produced outside of this Tequila region then the spirit must be labeled as Mescal. This is like the distinction between Cognac and Brandy.

Tequila may be labeled as Mixto or 100% Agave. 100% Agave tequila uses only Weber Blue Agave as the base ingredient for fermentation. Mixtos may use other varieties of Agave, or other sugars (fructose) in the fermentation process, but they still must use at least 51% Weber Blue Agave.

Tequila may be labeled as “Blanco” (unaged clear), “Gold” (usually caramel colored blanco), “Reposado” (rested in oak for two months to a year), “Anejo” (aged in oak for one to three years) and “Extra Anejo” (aged in oak for more than three years).